Affiliations

1 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; Division of Respiratory Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

2 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand.

7 Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; School of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.

8 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; School of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. Electronic address: richard.beasley@mrinz.ac.nz.

Affiliations

1 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; Division of Respiratory Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom.

2 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand.

7 Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; School of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.

8 Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand; Capital and Coast District Health Board, Wellington, New Zealand; School of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand. Electronic address: richard.beasley@mrinz.ac.nz.

Methods:
An independent 24-week, randomized controlled trial of 303 adult patients with asthma who are at risk, which compared the efficacy of SMART (single budesonide-formoterol inhaler as maintenance and reliever therapy) with a fixed-dose regimen with salbutamol as reliever ("Standard"). Inhaled medication use was measured by electronic monitoring. Baseline characteristics that were predictors of subsequent severe asthma exacerbations, poor asthma control (Asthma Control Questionnaire -5 score ≥1.5), and "extreme" β-agonist overuse (>16 budesonide-formoterol actuations/d in SMART and >32 salbutamol actuations/d in Standard) were assessed by multivariate analyses.